Frontier Religion in Western Pennsylvania1 Roy H

FRONTIER RELIGION IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA1 ROY H. JOHNSON

is wellknown that Christian missionaries have been trail blazers for ITthe path of empire on many a remote frontier. So, too, long before permanent settlements were made, emissaries of the gospel came to seek their constituents among the military outposts and scattered cabins of the trans-Allegheny region. The first leaders were subsidized and directed by eastern missionary societies, synods, associations, and conferences, but within a few decades western Pennsylvania achieved a self-sufficing stage, her log colleges and seminaries training a local ministry. Roman Catholic priests and Moravian missionaries were in the van of religious workers. In 1754 the chapel of Fort Duquesne was dedi- cated under the title of "The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin of the Beautiful River." Four years later Christian Frederick Post, a Moravian missionary, came within sight of Fort Machault, and, in 1767, his col- league David Zeisberger began a mission station "on the left bank of the Allegheny, not far from the mouth of the Tionesta."* After the conspiracy of Pontiac had been checked Presbyterian ministers came in greater numbers than other denominational workers. Before the settlers could organize to appeal for aid the Synod of New York and Philadel- phia sent traveling preachers west. During the late summer of 1766 Charles Beatty and George Duffield,Presbyterian ministers, visited Fort Bedford, Stony Creek, Laurel Hill,and Fort Pitt and passed on through

1This paper, with the title "The Religious Factor in Pioneer Life," was read at Grove City on July 15, 1932, during the historical tour under the auspices of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania and the summer session of the University of Pittsburgh. The author is a professor of history in Thiel College, Greenville. 1St. Paul's Cathedral Record Containing an Historical Sketch of St. Paul's Cathedral from the Beginning of the First Parish in the City of Pittsburgh, 3 (n.p., n.d.)l J« N. Fradenburgh, History of Erie Conference, 1:26, 95 (Oil City, 1907).

23 ROY 24 H. JOHNSON Feb. Logstown and Sawcunk to the Tuscarawas and Muskingum country. The followingpassages, taken from Beatty's diary, give some idea of the purpose and accomplishments of the mission : 19th. Tuesday. Rode four or five miles to a place in the wood, designed for building a house for worship, and preached but to a small auditory; notice of our preaching not having been sufficiently spread. After sermon, Iopened to the people present, the principal design of the synod in sending us to them, at this time; that it was not only to preach the gospel, but also to enquire into their circumstances, situation, numbers, and ability to support it. The people not being prepared to give us a fullanswer, promised to send it to Carlisle before our return. ...This valley of Tuskerora is about thirty-two miles in length; between six and seven miles broad in the middle, and about ten miles wide at the lower end next to Juniata river. There are about eighty- four families livingin this valley who propose to build two houses for worship ... In the afternoon, being in the open air, we were interrupted by a very heavy shower of rain...which obliged us to take shelter in a neighbour- ing house as well as we could. ...After sermon, Iwent to a house about a mile off, and baptized a child born last night, and returned to capt. Paterson's in the evening.

In a footnote Beatty says: "It was truly affecting to see, almost in every place on the frontiers, marks of the ravages of the cruel and barbarous enemy [Indians], Houses and fences burned, household furniture de- stroyed, the cattle killed, and horses either killed or carried off, and to hear the people relate the horrid scenes that were acted." 3 Itdoes not lie within the scope of this study to detail the organization of religious groups inhundreds of centers in western Pennsylvania. The purpose is rather to understand the importance and influence of such activities. In order to make possible the inclusion of details the study is limited to the so-called popular churches, the Presbyterian, the Metho- dist, and the Baptist. No matter how small the group or inadequate the facilities, Presby- terian frontiersmen demanded educated ministers. Princeton University and, later, the log colleges at Canonsburg and Washington furnished the necessary instruction. Each prospective preacher had to undergo an examination before the presbytery, in literature, Greek and Latin, ma-

3 Charles Beatty, The Journal of a Two Months Tour; with a View of Promoting Re- ligion among the Frontier Inhabitants of Pennsylvania, and of Introducing Christianity among the Indians,10-12, 15 (London, 1768). FRONTIER RELIGION 1933 25 thematics and philosophy, and to preach a trial sermon on an assigned Latin text. The Redstone Presbytery, founded in 178 1, frequently conducted trials for prospective ministers. The following minutes are re- corded for Thursday, April 23, 1795: "Mr. James Adams having offered himself a Candidate for the Gospel Ministry, P.b.y ...appointed him an exegesis on the following theme, Quo modo Sacrae Scripturae probantur esse divinae. P.b.y proceeded to examine Mr. Adams on the Latin and Greek Languages, the specimens which he gave thereon were accepted as parts of trials." On June 26, 1799, "P.b.y appointed Mr. Moorhead to prepare an exegesis on the following theme quid sit dis- crimen inter Foedera operum et gratiae, also a Homily on 1. John 4.19 tobe brough(t) in at our next meeting." 4 In contrast to this insistence on academic preparation were the practices of the Methodists and the Baptists. Individuals with the proper spirit and sermonizing ability were accepted as preachers regardless of special training. In the social meetings of the Methodists it was easy to discover the outstanding prayers and talkers. Such persons were made class leaders and assigned various duties such as giving out hymns, encouraging the members, and delivering short exhortatory addresses at the com- mencement and conclusion of the meetings. The circuit rider then had the power to make exhorters of these leaders. At a quarterly conference an exhorter, properly recommended by his home society, might be licensed as a local preacher, after due examination in doctrine, discipline, and Christian experience. The annual conference then had the power to elect the local preacher to full membership and ordain him to the office of deacon. The case of Robert Roberts, who came to She- nango, Mercer County, in 1796 to operate a farm, is typical. He joined a local class two years later and in 1800 was given a license to exhort by a circuit preacher. Roberts was made a local preacher by the West Wheeling circuit in 1802, was received on trial by the Baltimore Con- ference, and was appointed to the Carlisle circuit. Bishop Francis Asbury ordained him a deacon at Alexandria, D.C., in 1804. 5 4 Presbytery of Redstone, Minutes ... September iq, 178 1, to December, 183 1, 116, 149 (Cincinnati, 1878). 5 Charles Elliott, The Life of the Rev. Robert R. Roberts, One of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 67, 90, 96—100, 115 (Cincinnati, 1844). H, 26 ROY JOHNSON Feb. The Baptists, unaided by eastern organizations and unhampered by rigid requirements concerning the licensing and ordination of ministers, developed a native leadership. It was customary to wait upon the Lord to see whether anyone would be divinely inspired to exercise a public gift such as singing, praying, exhorting, or preaching. The frontier Baptist preacher had to have a remunerative avocation as there was no assurance of regular support from the congregation. In 1785 David Philips acquired a 390 acre farm near the site of the Peters Creek Bap- tist Church in Washington County. Two years later he was called to preach. The initial pastor of the First Baptist Church of Pittsburgh was a glassworker. 6 The Christian ministry on the frontier was truly a labor of love, for not only was the promised stipend low but it was not uncommon for a congregation to be three years or more in arrears on salary payments. It was the custom to meet a part of the obligation by payments in kind. One Presbyterian congregation (Congruity, in Westmoreland County) on April 11, 1798, presented a written guarantee to pay the Reverend Samuel Porter "one hundred and twenty Pounds clear of all deficiency the one half in merchantable wheat at five shillings pr bushel and the other half in Cash." Bids were often received for one-half or one-fourth the time of a pastor. In 1819 the church at French Creek promised $204 and one hundred acres of land for three-fourths of the time of the Reverend A.Brook, and the congregation of Buchanan took the other fourth of his time at fifty dollars a year. 7 It was the practice of the Methodist General Conference to standardize the salaries of preachers. Prior to 1792 the itinerant evangelist had to pay his own expenses out of a salary of sixty-four dollars per year. From 1800 to 1816 the traveling preacher was promised eighty dollars and expenses on the road. In addition eighty dollars was allowed for a wife, sixteen dollars for each child under seven, and twenty-four dollars for children from seven to fourteen. Collections in cash and produce were slow and, even though

6 Mrs. S. F. Boyer, "History of the Peters Creek Baptist Church, 1773-1923," p. 2 (typescript in the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh)} Fred M. Preble, "Historical Dis- course," in The Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the First Baptist Churchy Now the Fourth Ave, Baptist Church, Pittsburgh, 4, 5 (n.p., [1887] ). 7 Presbytery of Redstone, Minutes, 138, 300. FRONTIER RELIGION 1933 27 the prejudice against it was strong, the circuit rider was forced into secular business. When Bishop Robert Roberts built a mill at Shenango to help support his family, a critic said "it would be well for the people ifhis wife were dead, and the millswept down the river." Alarge number of Presbyterian ministers, despite the deep-rooted objections of some of their constituents, deemed it necessary to supplement their clerical incomes. After spending half a day debating the question whether or not a minister might have a remunerative secular position the Pittsburgh Synod concluded that he might if absolutely necessary "for the support of himself and family." 8 The life of the frontier preacher was crowded withinteresting activities and useful service but hedged in by bitter privation. Much of the time was spent on horseback. The Presbyterians, having the more numerous constituency, served from one to four churches. The Methodist itinerants traveled circuits that averaged four hundred miles in circum- ference, took from four to six weeks to cover, and numbered ten to thirty appointments. The old Shenango circuit included Butler and Beaver counties, Pennsylvania, and extended into Ohio as far as Yellow Creek, with several appointments in the Western Reserve. 9 Western Pennsylvania was under the jurisdiction of the old Baltimore Confer- ence. The circuit rider, fresh from the conference meeting, brought books in his saddlebags and news of world affairs to exchange for lodg- ing with a friendly settler. The pioneer preacher delivered a forceful message, with the savor of hell-fire and brimstone, flaying mercilessly the baser sins of primitive society. He spoke at cabins, taverns, courthouses, and in the open air. Frequently the opportunity came to answer a heckler or engage in de- bate with a rival from another denomination. During the year 1806 the Reverend Robert Roberts preached in Meadville at a tavern. It was a bitterly cold night, and while preaching he wore his overcoat. He said: "If you want honor, it is more honorable to serve God than the devil. Ifa man want pleasure, he need not go to Satan for it, as he has been 8 Robert Emory, History of the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 42, 237 (New York, 1845)} Elliott, Roberts, 131 5 Synod of Pittsburgh, Records ... September 2g, 1802, to October, 1832, 99 (Pittsburgh, 1852). 9 Elliott, Roberts, 128. 28 ROY H. JOHNSON Feb. a stranger to it for more than five thousand years. Ifhe want riches, were he to sweep hell he could not find a sixpence." At that juncture a response came from a small man sitting in a corner. "Why sir! then money is scarce there as well as here." 10 In most communities religious services were held long before the erection of church buildings. Denominational consciousness was strong, and zealous laymen would arrange meetings for "social worship" at which the Bible and perhaps a sermon were read and all were asked to joinin singing and praying. The guiding spirits in the early Presbyterian meetings were often made ruling elders when a congregation was for- mally organized. Often several small groups would join in inviting a preacher to serve them. A single illustration of this procedure must suf- fice. Scotch-Irish settlers came to the Cross Creek region near Wells- burg, West Virginia, from Ireland, Scotland, York County, Pennsyl- vania, Winchester, Virginia, and Mecklenburg, North Carolina. Meet- ings for social worship began in 1776 on Irish Ridge and in the home of Major Vance in Washington County, Pennsylvania. John Morrison and Robert McCready, the lay leaders, later became ruling elders of the Cross Creek congregation. Indian raids frequently drove the settlers to seek protection within Vance's and Wells's forts, where religious services were continued. Representatives of the Donegal Presbytery, then the farthest west of the presbyteries, ministered to them. In 1799 the Buf- falo and Cross Creek congregations were strong enough to unite in sending a call to the Reverend Joseph Smith at an annual salary of seventy-five pounds. The call was carried to the Presbytery of New Castle and was accepted. 11 Dozens of Presbyterian congregations in western Pennsylvania were organized in a similar fashion. The class meeting, as developed by John Wesley, was admirably adapted to frontier conditions. Early arrivals quite often included a Methodist local preacher, who was ever alert to win converts to his cause. After Jacob Gurwell, an Irish local preacher, came to Shenango 10 Elliott, Roberts, 137. 11 John Stockton, "History of the Presbyterian Church of Cross Creek," inProceedings and Addresses Connected with the Celebration of the Half-Century Pastorate of the Rev. Stockton, Creek, Pa., (Pitts- John D.D.} in the Presbyterian Church of Cross 8-10 burgh, 1878). FRONTIER RELIGION 1933 29 in the spring of 1798, he preached every Sunday to his neighbors and "searched out and found all who had formerly been members of the Church ... Itis probable that he met them in class for some time, before any formal organization took place." On the other hand, the new group might be due to the initiative of laymen. Prompted by his pious wife, an early settler at Springfield, Erie County, wrote to a local preacher at Franklin, Ohio, for aid. The call was answered, and the visiting preacher, after several visits had revealed the possibilities of the field, succeeded in persuading the presiding elder of the Erie district to organize a class in 1801. 12 Whenever strong religious fervor pervaded a neighborhood a one- room cabin could not hold all who wished to worship. Thus the "tent" meeting came into vogue. The "tent" was a shelter or canopy protecting the platform on which stood the minister and the clerk who led the singing. The seats were felled logs and the pulpit either a stump or a board nailed to a tree. 13 During the communion service, on a wet day, a number of the members held umbrellas protecting those who were receiving the sacrament. The log church in some localities was contemporaneous with the earliest buildings. The Laurel Hill Presbyterian Church in Fayette County,— erected in 1772, was built entirely with the ax. No nails were used the clapboard roof was secured by logs and the doors by wooden pins. Small openings in the logs, glazed with paper or white linen oiled withlard or bear grease, served as windows. The seats were of cleft logs set on blocks. The raising of a log church was a gala occasion ; the entire community assembled, bringing ox teams and tools to cut and notch the logs. Through the forethought and generosity of some individual, a jug of whiskey was often provided to cheer the workers. The smaller churches were four-sided and each side was a single log's length. In other localities twelve-sided structures were constructed to accommodate the crowds. 14

12 Elliott, Roberts, 66 j Fradenburgh, Erie Conference, 1:91. '3 Marybelle Pierce, "The Establishment of the Associate, Reformed and Associate Re- formed Churches in Western Pennsylvania," 28 (University of Pittsburgh master's thesis, 193 1 ). MSesqui-Centennial Celebration of the Organization of the Laurel HillPresbyterian ROY H. 30 JOHNSON Feb. When a congregation was served by a traveling preacher the hour and the place had to fit into the schedule of the itinerant. Resident pastors conducted two services on Sunday. The morning session began at ten o'clock and at times extended until two; after an intermission of half an hour there followed an afternoon service of equal length. Attention centered on the sermon, which ordinarily occupied an hour and a half, and initthe preacher dealt fully with each of twelve or more main points. Sermons were delivered without notes because of the prejudice against the written sermon prevalent on the frontier. InPresbyterian churches congregational singing was led by the elder orby several clerks. In some instances the words were "lined out" by the leader; otherwise he merely announced the anthem and those familiar with it joined in. The semi-annual communion meetings of the Presbyterians and the quarterly meetings of the Methodists were sessions of extraordinary length and importance. The sacramental celebration of the Presbyterians extended over four days. The Thursday preceding was a fast day on which no work was done. On Saturday afternoon, at the conclusion of the sermon, tokens were distributed to members. These were of lead or pewter, inscribed with the initials of the congregation, and entitled the holder to a place at the communion table. Tokens were refused to known sinners and other undesirables. Following the Sunday sermon, which lasted from ten until two, all gathered around the communion table. "Fencing the rail" came as the climax of the morning service. At this time the preacher undertook to catalogue the sins of the individual members of the congregation in order to test their fitness to receive the Lord's Supper. 1' Ever since the Great Awakening inNew England, inspired by Jona- than Edwards in the seventeen thirties and forties, the popular churches have been periodically influenced by manifestations of revival. The Great Revival in the West (1801-02) is often localized in Kentucky and Tennessee by historians who ignore a similar movement in western Church ... 1926, 9 (n.p., n.d.,)j extracts from a letter written in 1848 by President Carnahan of Princeton College, in W. F. Hamilton, "Antecedent History," in History of the Presbytery of Washington Including a Brief Account of the Planting of the Presby- terian Church in Western Pennsylvania and Parts Adjacent, 4, note 1(Philadelphia, 1889). *S S. J. M.Eaton, History of the Presbytery of Erie, 1: 21-25 (New York, 1868). FRONTIER RELIGION 1933 31 Pennsylvania. As early as 1778 settlers seeking shelter in Vance's Fort felt the stir of revival. From 1781 to 1787 "a most extensive work of grace" brought in a thousand converts to the churches in the Pittsburgh region. Anxious to further this means of recruiting members, the Pres- bytery of Ohio established a quarterly concert of prayer in 1796, "for the outpouring of the Spirit,and the revival of religion." From the South and West came the news of the great revivals of 1801—02. James McGready, a graduate of John McMillan's log college at Washington, Pennsylvania, inaugurated the Logan County, Kentucky, revival. Elisha Macurdy of the same communion was an early advocate of revival in western Pennsylvania. He suggested to the Three Springs and Cross Roads congregations that they spend fifteen minutes at sunset every Thursday evening "in special prayer to God, for the outpouring of his Spirit, and the revival of his work." When the congregation was asked to vote on the suggestion, not only was there unanimous approval, but about fifty persons remained upon the ground, spending the night in social worship. 16 The meeting of the Pittsburgh Synod in September, 1802, was des- tined to mark the beginning of a very remarkable season of revival. On a certain Wednesday the services were continued throughout the night.— "Itwas a solemn night; many were affected —numbers sunk down the cries and groans of the distressed were almost incessant." After the close of formal sessions of the synod the ecstatic experiences were re- newed at churches and farmhouses. The news quickly spread that "the Lord was at work," and members of near-by congregations attended the church affected. The participants, engaged in religious exercises from Sunday until Friday, day and night, showed truly remarkable powers of physical endurance. It was the practice to move from one group to another seeking an outpouring of the spirit. No wonder that some, upon returning home, "declared Hell-fire to be the portion of their brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, whom they supposed to be destitute of interest in Christ." After the regular worship services at Flats on Octo- ber 7, forty persons tarried to sing. Soon individuals began to shout and

16 Eaton, Presbytery of Erie, 4i David Elliott, The Life of the Rev. Elisha Macurdy, 56, 60 (Allegheny and Philadelphia, 1848). ROY 32 H. JOHNSON Feb. lose the power of their limbs; before long there were but five or six able to take care of the rest. Over and over they repeated the words, "How long have Irejected Christ! How long have Iembrued my hands in his frecious blood! O this wretched hard heart! >} AtCross Roads a three- day communion service was conducted by Macurdy and three other ministers with eight hundred persons receiving the sacrament. "When some of those without were about to go away, they found that part of their families were in the house, and some of them lying in distress, unable to remove." The climax of the revival, as far as western Pennsylvania was concerned, came at the meeting at Upper Buffalo in the second week in November, 1802. Fifteen ministers, all members of the Pittsburgh Synod, were present and alternated preaching, day and night, in the church and at "tents" scattered inthe woods. When the cries and groans of the distressed made itimpossible to hear the minister, the preacher and "others reputed for experience and wisdom in religion, took opportunity to converse with the distressed." On Sunday communion was administered to 960 persons. 17 Despite the numerous accessions to membership attributable to them, revivals have often had a divisive effect on the major denominations. Schism followed the Great Awakening in colonial days. The Presbyte- rians formed the New Side or evangelical party and the Old Side anti- revival party. Congregationalists were either New Lights or Old Lights. On the frontier an occasional voice was raised against the validity of the ecstatic expression of religion in terms of violent physical movements and exercises. The defenders of the revival far outnumbered the objectors, however, and inpamphlets and letters to the editor of the Western Mis- sionary Magazine they upheld the validity of the movement. A self- styled "Rational Christian" explained to the editor that the involved metaphysical sermons of the East had no place inthe West, and that the man who undertook to lead his unlearned hearers to happiness by that road was like "the guide, who would lead a feeble Pennsylvanian over the Norwegian mountains, to take him the nighest, and best road to Philadelphia." 18 *7 "Revival of Religion in the Western Country," in Western Missionary Magazine ; and Repository of Religious Intelligence, 1:328-337 (October, 1803). 18 [Samuel Ralston,] Letters Addressed to the Rev. Messrs. John Cree, John Anders ony FRONTIER RELIGION 1933 33 Such Methodist institutions as camp meetings, quarterly meetings, and the mourners' bench stimulated spontaneous and unrestrained expression of religious feeling. It was not uncommon to conclude two days of preaching at a quarterly meeting with an all-night session at which converts "were gathered in, sometimes numbered by the score." 19 Accord- ing to a contemporary account the mourners' bench was devised to give order and direction to expressions of religious ecstasy: Humble penitents would be found in different parts of the congregation; and sometimes there would be a cluster here, and another there, all through the congregation, laboring and praying with these penitents. This sometimes pro- duced great confusion, as one company would often be singing while another company were engaged in prayer. Sometimes the penitents were so numerous that there were not suitable persons enough present to labor withthem in this detached and scattered situation. To avoid these and other inconveniences, by the direction of Elder Ward, the penitents were collected to one place; — if in a church, they were brought near the pulpit; ifat camp meeting, near the stand, to a place prepared for that purpose. This was sometimes called the mourner's bench, and afterwards it came to be called the altar.20 In the unorganized frontier community the church was often the principal agency of social control, for itperformed many of the functions of the civil magistrates of our own time. One is impressed by the order, system, and fairness in which discipline was administered. If the congregation was Presbyterian, the case was first presented to the local church session. Witnesses were called and interrogated, depositions were placed on file,and the evidence was carefully weighed. Sometimes a defi- nite decision was rendered ; often itwas decided to defer judgment inthe hope that Providence might throw further light on the subject. Knotty problems were referred to the presbytery, or, failingof solution there, to the synod. Each defendant had the right of appeal to the higher tribunals. The more frequently recurring causes for disciplining local church members were drunkenness, profane swearing, Sabbath-breaking, lying William Wilson and Thomas Alison ... in Answer to their Pamphlet, Entitled Evils of the Work Now Prevailing in the United States of America, under the Name of a Re- vival of Religion (Washington, Pa., 1805)5 "An Essay on Enthusiasm," in Western Missionary Magazine, 1:128 (May, 1803). W. Sweet, ed., The Rise of Methodism in the West, Being the Journal of the Western Conference 1800—1811, 43 (New York and Cincinnati, CI920). 20 J. Monroe in Pittsburgh Christian Advocate, 21: 1 (February 14, 1854). ROY H. Feb. 34 JOHNSON or breach of contract, slander, affairs between the sexes, and disputes over property. Proportionately few cases of theft or crimes of violence were brought before the church session. Generally the system of civil justice was resorted to in such extremes. The success or failure of the churches as moral arbiters depended upon the value placed by the indi-— vidual malefactor on the two advantages conferred by membership the good willand approval of the fellow members of the congregation and the spiritual treasures dispensed by the church. There were many instances of sincere penitence and complete submis- sion to the willof the session. John Temple of the Rocky Spring Presby- terian Church, Mercer County, admitted "in the most Christian man- ner" that he had been "disguised with Spirituous liquors." Since it could not discover "a disposition the least refactory [sic]77 the session decided "to admonish him, and make an intimation thereof to the Congregation, to which he agreed." At the next regular meeting of the congregation he was "in the name, and by the authority of Christ, solemnly admon- ished, and Judicially absolved, and so restored to the fullcommunion of our Church." The social stigma attached to a rebuke before the entire congregation might lead the transgressor to make a special plea that he be released with only a reprimand from the session. The unrepentant wrongdoer who openly flouted authority, presented a serious problem. Every effort was made to change his attitude. John White of the Rocky Spring Church was cited for the double offense of intoxication and say- ing that "he did not care a damn for Mr.Walker or his session." When voted guilty he refused to acknowledge his offense, and "Session then agreed to defer his suspension for a few weeks to see if he should be brought torepentance." 21 Frontier religious leaders realized fully the disruptive consequences of quarrels between church members. If unchecked, such controversies might divide the congregation into hostile factions. For example, the Dunlaps Creek Church session published the fact that Robert Adams owned that "he was wrong in taking obligations on Joseph Crebill for

21 Session records of the Rocky Spring Church, September 7, 1811, August 28, 1813 (transcript made by Miss Frances Coulter, a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh). FRONTIER RELIGION I933 35 too much money for land he sold to him," but inall fairness it was stated that Adams still thought "his right to said land was good." The same Robert Adams brought charges against his uncle James for calling him an unspeakable name. James Adams replied that if he said so he was sorry, but that he did not remember that he did.** The loss of a member represented a serious depletion of personnel; consequently expulsion was rarely resorted to, even in the most flagrant cases. The chronic offender was usually suspended inthe hope of a moral reformation. This practice was followed in the case of Joshua Shields: Called before Session Joshua Shields against whom the following reports ex- isted, ist. That on his rout to Erie as a military soldier he should have been guilty of profane cursing and swearing. And 2nd. Intoxication. 3rd....deny- ing the solemn profession which he had made of Christ. Allthese were ma- teriallygranted by said Joshua Shields. The Session ...considered it very un- safe to keep Joshua Shields in the full communion of the church, while he was subject to the shocking practices before specified. ... Vote was taken ... carried unanimously [/o] suspend Joshua Shields from all church privileges and healing ordinances for awhile to see ifhis life shall be reformed.23 Individuals falling under the censure of the local church had the right of appeal to the presbytery, and, failing there, to the synod. In rare instances the General Assembly consented to act as final arbiter. As might be expected, matters of personal relations such as marriage and slander suits were often appealed by interested parties. The practice of demand- ing a public apology of those found guilty of slander was a cruel blow to pride, and the defendant, after exhausting the avenues of appeal and de- lay, often left the church rather than be publicly humiliated. In the field of marital relations the synods and presbyteries rendered important service. The Redstone Presbytery was confronted with the case of John Coleman who had left his wife in Ireland and married another in this country. He marshaled a corps of witnesses ready to testify that his for- mer wife was unfaithful. Decisions on cases involving consanguinity were often up for decision. Should a man who had married his wife's half- brother's daughter be admitted to church membership? The Pittsburgh 22 "Session Book of Delaps (Dunlopt) Creek Presbyterian Church," August 27, 179s, May 30, 1799 (transcript made by Mr. Jesse Coldren, in the possession of the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania). *3 Session Records, Rocky Spring Church, November 9, 1812. ROY H. JOHNSON Feb. 36 Synod refused to lift the ban on a man who had married his mother's brother's widow.*4 The Methodist book of discipline, the injunctions of which the local preacher was to put into practice, had the advantage of being revised at every general conference to meet current needs. Members were not to sue each other but rather were to seek the agency of the church to settle controversies. Arbitration was provided for and the penalty for institut- ing suit was expulsion. In 1796 itwas provided that any member should have the right of appeal to the ensuing quarterly meeting. To prevent scandal, when a member failed in business his accounts were to be in- vestigated by a committee and ifhe had behaved dishonestly or borrowed money without a probability of paying, he was to be expelled. Those in charge at the quarterly meetings were instructed to inquire diligently "both into the temporal and spiritual state of each society." 1$ Deliberative bodies of various churches have long sought to control public morals by inveighing against the sins of the day and recommend- ing certain standards of conduct. Every moral orpolitical crisis calls for a special pronouncement. Participants in the Whiskey Rebellion were roundly condemned in a resolution passed by the Redstone Presbytery. Those who had an active hand in "burning property robbing the mail and destroying the official papers of the officers of Government" were not to be admitted to the distinguishing privileges of the church until they gave satisfactory evidence of their repentance. The presbytery concluded by expressing its "hearty disapprobation of all riotous illegal and uncon- stitutional Combinations against the government, the laws or the officers of Government." In 181 2 the Presbyterians again gave their support to a government facing armed foes. In October, 1813, the Presbytery of Ohio called upon its members to offer up praise and thanksgiving to God "for the late signal and very remarkable victories, under the Divine auspices, gained by our northwestern armies, both on lake and on land." 26 On the other hand religious leaders became severe critics of the government when circumstances seemed to warrant such a stand. In 1809 *4Presbytery of Redstone, Minutes, 27, 37, 108 j Synod of Pittsburgh, Records, JO. **5Emory, Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 144, 148, 149. 6 presbytery of Redstone, Minutes, 114$ Hamilton, in History of the Presbytery of Washington, 23. FRONTIER RELIGION 1933 37 and 18io Presbyterian bodies made strenuous efforts to get the government to ban Sunday mail delivery. The Synod of Pittsburgh sustained the action of the session of Washington and the Presbytery of Ohio in excluding from church membership a postmaster who opened mail on Sunday. A committee was then appointed to petition Congress to alter the law so that the Sabbath would not be violated by the postal authori- ties. Some four years earlier the synod had petitioned the president of the United States on behalf of the Wyandot Indians of Lower Sandusky that they be given certain lands for settlement. 27 The frontier churches could claim only a small proportion of the total population as their adherents. Yet they wielded an influence far greater than their numerical strength would indicate. Many of the prominent community leaders were numbered among their constituents. The fact that the rank and file of church members were amenable to the discipline of the local congregation greatly enhanced the influence of organized religion.

Z7 Synod of Pittsburgh, Records, 33, 62.